Emotional: Coronation Street star Rob Mallard has admitted he has to 'trick himself' when filming scenes with the prosthetic baby, as it plays the part of Daniel's son Bertie

Explaining the secret behind portraying the prosthetic as a real newborn, Rob said: 'There's a hand pump at the back. We'd be stood crouching over the incubator, looking lovingly down at this jelly baby, and there'd be a district nurse crouching down by my knees, slowly pumping this thing so its stomach rises.

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'When it comes to the acting, as long as you trick yourself into believing it's real, you don't have to think about it. But one of the downsides to being busy is that you get burnout, and your brain will go, 'This isn't real; I don't need to worry about this'.

'The difficult thing with an inanimate object is that with another actor you have eyes to look into. Whereas with this, you don't get anything back.'

Emotional: Candid: The soap star explained the secrets behind the plot to What's On TV, after Sinead was forced to give birth to her son prematurely due her cervical cancer spreading

Revealed: He said: 'We'd be stood crouching over the incubator, looking lovingly down at this jelly baby, and there'd be a district nurse... slowly pumping this thing so its stomach rises'

Heartbreaking scenes saw Sinead (Katie McGlynn) forced to deliver her son early after being told her cervical cancer had spread, and after her son was born via. Caesarean section he was taken straight to an incubator.

After being told that her little boy was still too tiny to be held, Daniel managed to find a way for Sinead to see little Bertie - as she remained on bed-rest after the surgery.

Using FaceTime Sinead was able to see her son for the first time while Daniel gave him a little toy, and her touching speech to him left many viewers in tears.

Truthful: He added: 'The difficult thing with an inanimate object is that with another actor you have eyes to look into. Whereas with this, you don't get anything back'

Emotional: After being unable to go and see her son, Daniel used FaceTime to allow Sinead to see little Bertie while he lay in an incubator

She said: 'Hello my little boy. I'm sorry I can't come and visit you now but your daddy's got a present from me.

'I can't wait to see you, I can't wait to see you home. You came just a little bit too early and I'm a little bit too poorly to visit you right now.

'I've been poorly for quite a while but I'm going to get better now and I'm going to look after you, and hold you and protect you.

'But until then I'm just going to sit here and watch you on my phone because you are the most beautiful special baby boy ever.'

This hard-hitting storyline has seen Sinead struggling to battle cervical cancer while still fearing the treatment could harm her unborn child.

But her ordeal is not yet over, as Daniel will soon discover that their son has a bowel condition, but chooses to keep the news a secret from Sinead.

Coronation Street continues on Wednesday 16th January at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on ITV.

Back soon: Coronation Street continues on Wednesday 16th January at 7:30pm and 8:30pm on ITV